(1:30) Pat McNeil Intro
(3:40) Lance Hoyt/Archer Introduction
(4:20) House of Hardcore & match with Chris Hero
(9:00) Would he consider a return to WWE developmental/NXT?
(11:30) Candid thoughts on Dusty Rhodes
(13:10) Does he see NOAH breaking out in the U.S.?
(16:20) Pat runs down Lance’s upcoming NOAH match-ups.
(17:30) Do Japanese wrestlers write autobiographies?
(19:45) Kenny Omega vs. an eight-year old girl
(21:10) What are the rings like in Japan
(29:00) Japanese food & hotels or U.S. food & hotels?
(30:50) Would he work full-time for Global Force Wrestling?
(32:20) What tag teams would Killer Elite Squad want to face?
(33:40) Who does Lance see as the next big star?
(35:15) What match on NXT Takeover is he looking forward to tonight?
(36:45) Learning the WWE style
(40:15) Samoa Joe going up to the main roster soon?
(41:20) Has Lance’s title belts ever gotten stolen?
(43:40) Lance’s local work in Texas
(47:30) Next week’s guest
(47:55) How long does Lance plan to wrestle for?
(49:15) Discussing today’s fans
(55:45) What will it take for another promotion to break out?
(1:00:20) When is Lance due back in ROH?

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS

– Pat drops some key dates on when Lance will be wrestling: He’ll be wrestling for NOAH the weekend of Oct. 16. Plus, wrestling Chris Hero for Tommy Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion on November 13 in Philly. Lance didn’t know of that match and mentions he wrestled Chris in the Global League Tournament, which he explains is NOAH’s version of the G1 Climax. Hoyt mentions wrestling War Machine and how he and Davey Boy Smith, Jr. defeated them. They have an upcoming triple threat tag match this weekend in Dyersburg, Tenn. for the NWA Tag Team Titles. (Lance was kind of in character for this segment)

– Kylin calls in: would he consider going back to WWE developmental now that they’ve rebranded as NXT? He says never say never to anything in wrestling, but he’s past doing full developmental considering the experience he’s gained working for several promotions, but would not be against working in NXT. Pat also adds that he doesn’t think NXT is really developmental considering all of the veterans on the show.

– Lance’s thoughts on Dusty Rhodes: he was extremely influential in his career – he was a big help developing his character in TNA and helped him get his job with WWE back in the day. Even times when he was out of WWE he was helpful. The Rhodes family played a big part in Hoyt’s wrestling career.

– With New Japan Pro Wrestling breaking out in the U.S., does he see NOAH doing the same? Lance thinks NOAH has a long way to go as they’re working at getting a full-time deal in Japan, but he does think it would do well in the States if given the opportunity. They would have a tough time competing with NJPW since they already have a TV deal and a relationship with ROH. Not any time soon!

– Have any Japanese wrestlers written autobiographies? He knows Tanahashi wrote one which caused a lot of controversy in NJPW because he criticized Shibata leaving for MMA. He’s not sure about other biographies. Pat asks Lance if he’s been approached for a Japanese autobiographies and Lance says he’s done magazine interviews. Pat says he’d like to hear Hoyt narrate an audiobook in Japanese.

– Kenny Omega’s match with an eight-year old girl gets brought up and Lance says he wouldn’t know how to handle a match like that. He said one time he took an in-ring drop toe hold from a girl at a birthday party.

– Lance says none of the rings, Japan or WWE, are soft. He believes the NOAH ring is the same ring they brought over when they split from All Japan and Giant Baba still worked (because the ropes are actually two inches taller than normal ropes). Extremely solid and rigid – he enjoys working in them. He says too many rings in the U.S. aren’t built as well. He says he’s never been in a bad ROH ring even though sometimes they just get ones from the local venue. Most of the rings that he would have trouble with would be when he’s wrestling the independent circuit, although he did wrestle in a horrible ring in France. How about the TNA ring? He said it was good, some areas are stiffer than others, but he never had a problem.

– Question from the chat room: does he prefer the Japanese hotels & restaurants or the U.S. hotels & restaurants? Hotels: he prefers U.S. because sometimes in Japan he can touch wall-to-wall in rooms. Food: he’s had great food in both places, but since he’s spent a great deal of his time in Japan, he gives the edge to them.

-Mike from Brooklyn: he loves Killer Elite Squad and Lance’s work. Is Global Force going to get a TV deal in America and would he work for them? “Never say never” says Lance. He thinks GFW struck a U.K. TV deal, but breaking into the US market is tougher. If they got a full-time deal in the States with full-time contracts he’d definitely be interested.

– What old and new tag teams would he want to face with Davey Boy, Jr.? Road Warriors and the Bulldogs would be two from the past. Newer teams he mentioned were the Wolves in TNA, The Ascension, and Bullet Club.

– What’s the one wrestler Lance sees as money? He says Finn Balor and that he has the best entrance in all of professional wrestling. That in tandem with his personality and wrestling ability make him the best. If the act doesn’t get messed up Lance says he’s going to be the biggest star wrestling has seen in a long time.

– Lance is asked what match is he looking forward to most on the NXT: Takeover special tonight? He mentions the Dusty Tag Team Classic. Lance says they will have a good crowd for that since they’re in Orlando.

– Pat brings up WWE 24 and what he got out of it was that if you’re in NXT, you already have the wrestling ability to get the job done, it’s just more so knowing the production style such as hard camera work and knowing where to be in position. Pat asks if Lance had any of that training experience in WWE? He says FCW was very different than the Performance Center today. Even before he went to WWE he had hard camera work experience in TNA and even the indies, so it wasn’t a big part for him. Learning the WWE mindset was the learning curve, which he thinks is the main focus for a lot of established talent in NXT.

– Samoa Joe signing a main roster contract? Pat’s not sure of their plans for him, but from what he heard he’ll be working for NXT through the end of the year.

– Pro Wrestling Syndicate had their TV Title belt stolen recently. Has anyone tried to steal Lance’s title belts? Luckily no, but he’s heard this happen before. Lance says most likely the PWS Title belt was taken from someone they know. Pat mentions Luke Gallows getting his belt stolen. Lance jokes that Gallows probably tried to sell it – he can sell anything (except when he’s in the ring).

– As far as local work, Lance did a charity event for a friend with cancer once (the friend still doing good), and did another show which was successful. Right now he hasn’t had the time (thankfully). Lance will be in Diresburg, Tenn. this weekend, then the next weekend he’ll be wrestling for NOAH, and has the HOH event in November. Nothing planned after that, but he does wrestle for Texas promotions: Metroplex Wrestling (Bedford), Branded Outlaw Wrestling (San Antonio & Austin), and Inspire Pro Wrestling (Austin). He recommends checking them out.

– Justin Credible is the guest next week who will be wrestling his second retirement match.

– Lance says he’d like to keep wrestling for a while, he thinks there are things he can still achieve, but if he feels like his time has past, he’ll call it a career. He doesn’t want to be that guy who stuck around too long.

– Can Lance talk about the absence of the Vince McMahon’s character from WWE television? Is that what the current product is missing? Pat says Vince does a tremendous job, but the authority figure character has run it’s course. Lance would like the wrestling fans to start being more positive for the wrestling business. He sees ratings decline, the same fans aren’t happy with the product that’s being put out for them. He says that if you find or care for a wrestler, you should go and support them. There are good things to support, maybe the Vince McMahon character’s time has past, but if fans can find the positive in today and not look to the past, it will help the business from dying. Pat thinks it’s possible to appreciate good characters and also think that the story lines are dumb. He doesn’t think the problem is the actual work done by wrestlers, he thinks there are different situations. WWE has to deal with three hours, TNA has the problem of having a poor channel to promote their product. He thinks that wrestling is better when they focus wrestling on wrestlers fighting wrestlers for championships and to settle feuds. Lance totally agrees, he just thinks fans should find that one person to cheer for that can lead you to the future. Pat says it’s incumbent on wrestling promoters to treat the guy on top like are a Rock or an Austin. He uses Seth Rollins as an example. Lance talks about the plastic guitar storyline (Rock ‘n Rave Infection) and how people still have fond memories because he had fun with it. He brings up New Day and how they made it work, now you see them on Monday night ending Raw. He completely agrees with Pat and says a company needs to push a wrestler to the moon instead of taking it half-assed (therefore it will look half-assed).

– What does Lance think it will take for another big promotion to branch out? He says there are so many factors. He thinks NJPW is on a good pace from a Japan market standpoint and an international standpoint. They have potential to break out, but it takes the fans’s positive support and pushing the good rather than criticize, because if a casual fan sees their negativity it will turn them away from any wrestling product. Pat believes the solution is finding a particular wrestling product and watching that. Lance says instead of being negative about it, give a different wrestling product your money, don’t give them your money.

– When is he due back in ROH? He’s not sure but they’ve been in talks.

8 out of 10: Lance Hoyt was a great guest to have on for Pat. He was well-spoken and friendly to callers and it was a nice touch of him to somewhat “stay in character” when it came to discussing his matches. Usually, a lot of the questions asked by callers tend to be stale or recycled, but this week was different. The questions asked really enhanced the show, such as Kylin asking about Lance’s thoughts on Dusty Rhodes or the chat room question asking Lance if he prefers Japanese food over food in the United States. It gave Lance and Pat the opportunity to talk about a wide range of topics. Something else that this episode benefited from was Lance being so well traveled in wrestling – he was able to give very smart perspective from a domestic and international standpoint, like when he was explaining Pro Wrestling NOAH’s potential trouble in the U.S. market. For the last ten minutes, Pat and he have a healthy discussion about the negativity in today’s wrestling fan. Lance gives a solid argument for why they should be more positive and Pat does an excellent job in clarifying his and Lance’s position. Overall, a very informative and engaging interview.

Notsam Podcast – Episode 229: Jake “The Snake” Roberts Release Date: March 14th, 2019 Recap By: James Hayes DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD From New York, Sam welcomes you to the show! What a great time [...]